JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Bellarmine lacrosse team had a chance to clinch their berth in the Atlantic Sun Championship with a win over Jacksonville, but fell by an 18-5 final Saturday afternoon at Rock Stadium.
 
Despite the loss, the Knights are still in the driver's seat for the fourth and final seed in the ASUN Championship with one game to play after Utah defeated sixth-place Queens and Air Force defeated Mercer Saturday. Bellarmine is tied for fourth with Mercer at 1-3 in ASUN play, but owns the head-to-head tiebreaker.
 
Even with the lopsided score on Saturday, Bellarmine head coach Andrew Whitley says the Knights performed close to what they needed to do to win.
 
"Today was a tough day because we executed 90 percent of the game plan all over the field for most of the game, but we just could not execute that last 10 percent that you need to be successful," said Whitley. "Against a quality opponent like Jacksonville, you need to play a complete game. Not a perfect game, but a complete one, and today we didn't do that."
 
On the stat sheet, Jacksonville won the ground ball battle 41-14, won 16 of 27 faceoffs (.593) and were successful on 22 of 23 clear attempts. They also caused seven more turnovers and assisted on 14 of their 18 goals, to boot, while the Knights registered two assists on five goals and were 17 for 25 on clears.
 
"It was frustrating for our guys because we were making really good decisions and getting to good spots on offense and executing the defensive plan, but then we would drop a pass in the clear or miss a slide and Jacksonville would capitalize," Whitley said.
 
Jacksonville was able to set the tone early in the game, scoring the first six goals before Michael Blaymires got the Knights on the board in the final minute of the first quarter.
 
John Alie and Justin Wescoat would score two of the first three goals of the second quarter as the Knights' deficit was cut to four at 7-3, but the Dolphins' attack rattled off five straight goals over the next nine minutes to take a 12-3 advantage. Alie's goal was his 46^th of the season and only goal of the day, leaving him four shy of tying Christian Della Rocco's Bellarmine record.
 
Joe Alie was able to add a late score before halftime, taking the feed from Luke Healy and sending in a score from in front of the cage with 12 seconds left as the Knights trailed 12-4 at the break.
 
It was a quiet second half for Bellarmine with Ezra Moore scoring the lone Knights goal with 10:57 left in the third. The Dolphins scored twice in the third quarter and four times in the fourth to earn the 18-5 win.
 
In the cage for Bellarmine, Nolan Hudnut made 13 saves to give him 195 on the season. Should he get 14 saves next week, he will set the Knights' program record for saves in a season, passing the 208 mark established by Dillon Ward in 2013.
 
Hudnut's counterpart, Ryan Della Rocco, brother of Christian, made nine saves.
 
Jackson Intrieri led the way offensively for the Dolphins with two goals and six assists for a game-high eight points. Nicky Brown scored four goals while Daylin John-Hill and Jack Taylor added three apiece.
 
"The positive is we can correct the physical mistakes with a good week of practice," Whitley concluded. "Our guys are disappointed because we hold ourselves to a high standard and, quite frankly, expect more of ourselves. We have way more talent than we showed today and that is frustrating. Despite the outcome, we still control our own destiny in the pursuit of the ASUN playoffs. The playoffs start now."
 
The Knights conclude their regular season and look to punch their ticket to the ASUN Championship with their Career Appreciation Day game against Queens next Saturday, April 26 at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium. Opening faceoff is set for 12 p.m. ET.
 
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